Meralis Hood sums up her job this way: She oversees teaching about 300 ninth-graders "what it means to be a Bay View student."

Several years ago, being a Bay View High School student meant you weren't likely to be getting a rigorous education. It meant you were attending a school with an unsteady, troubled culture and a reputation for safety problems.

I am here to give a whole different report on what it means to be a Bay View student now. It's not there yet, but as the high school a few miles south of downtown marks its 100th anniversary, a surge of commitment, energy and unity is giving Bay View a good shot at becoming an inspiring turnaround story.

If things develop well — and I found several visits to the school encouraging — being a Bay View student will mean getting a good education, preparing for a successful life beyond graduation and being part of a caring school community that has reconnected with surrounding neighborhoods.

Nationwide, the formula for turning around failing schools has proved elusive. So much work has gone into new programs, new leadership, new teachers, new anything and everything. Billions of dollars in federal grants were intended to spark improvement.

In the big picture, there are pockets of success and a broad landscape of little change. I was reading a book a few days ago that argued for giving up on school turnaround as a strategy.

Bay View could be one of the exceptions. Why? Because a core of leaders, including the principal, teachers, MPS leaders, nonprofit organizations and community members are so determined to make it so.

The Bay View Class of 2014 had four principals in four years, a bad sign. Turnover in staff and students, as well as programs, was a chronic problem. Efforts to change weren't given a fair chance.

But current staff members, particularly second-year Principal Aaron Shapiro, have signed on — literally — to commitments to stay at Bay View for long enough to give improvement a real shot.

To make a long story short, "last ditch" might not have been too strong a term for a lot of work a couple of years ago to come up with a new plan for Bay View.

What emerged emphasizes STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education, adding a strong arts emphasis (and an "A" to the acronym, making it STEAM). SpringBoard, a program aimed at readying kids for Advanced Placement courses, was also brought in, and offerings of more rigorous courses increased.

One thing different about this set of reforms, compared with earlier ones: Amy Johnson, in her 21st year on the faculty, says, "They've actually listened to the key stakeholders."

The effort has a grass-roots-up identity, whereas earlier changes generally came from the top down, sometimes with a do-this-or-else tone.

The success of the whole effort is likely to depend on a big push to build warmer, more constructive relationships among students and between students and teachers.

Shapiro said, "That relationship piece is going to make us or break us as a community."

That's what Hood, the assistant principal for ninth grade, is working on. A ninth-grade "academy" is breaking the 300 freshmen into two groups and trying to provide a lot of support.

The school was listed as "failing to meet expectations," the lowest category, in the state's most recent school report cards. Test scores and other indicators remained low.

Encouraging signs

But Shapiro and several staff members said more recent indicators are encouraging, including improvement in more recent tests, upticks in attendance and other behavior indicators and success in specific multistudent projects that are a feature of the new program.

One indicator that often gets overlooked: teacher attendance has improved.

"Before we start providing that education for kids, we have to provide safety," Shapiro said. The school remains strong on safety aides (six are full time). But safety incidents overall are down, he said.

Johnson said the current staff will need five to seven years to make the program work. Shapiro suggested three to five years. Hood said, "Consistency and predictability — that's what we want."

Amber Lam, a senior, said, "We've made a huge turning point." There are more AP classes and better academics overall now. Better students are enrolling, she said.

Fernie Torres, also a senior, said, "It feels like a school now." She added, "It took the students to change. Not a lot of people believed in Bay View."

But, she said, there are still classes with too many students overall, including too many who don't want to learn.

Bay View High was once a proud destination for thousands of Bay View neighborhood children. In recent years, that fell to close to zero. Rebuilding that link will take a lot.

Shapiro said that this year, 10% of students live within two miles of the school and 65% live within five miles. The student body of about 900 is 58% African-American, 30% Hispanic (a growing percentage) and 10% white.

On the encouraging side, thanks in part to the SpringBoard program, almost 20 students from nearby Humboldt Park School enrolled as ninth-graders at Bay View this year, Shapiro said.

School Board member Meagan Holman, a key figure in the changes, said, "It really is a new day for Bay View High School. ... There's been an incredible level of embracing at the staff and administrative level of getting this right."

So what does it mean to be a Bay View student now? It could mean you're in on the start of something good.

Alan J. Borsuk is senior fellow in law and public policy at Marquette University Law School. Reach him at Alan.borsuk@marquette.edu.